{"648646":{"#nid":"648646","#data":{"type":"news","title":"InQuBATE Training Program Integrates Modeling and Data Science for Bioscience Ph.D. Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/project-details\/10270517\u0022\u003Efive-year, $1.27 million grant from the National Institutes of Health\u003C\/a\u003E (NIH) will help transform the study of quantitative- and data-intensive biosciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe grant will create the Integrative and Quantitative Biosciences Accelerated Training Environment (InQuBATE) Predoctoral Training Program at Georgia Tech. InQuBATE is designed to train a new generation of biomedical researchers and thought leaders to harness the data revolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to improve and enhance the training of students to focus on biological questions while leveraging modern tools, and in some cases developing new tools, to address foundational challenges at scales from molecules to systems,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Tom and Marie Patton Chair in the School of Biological Sciences. Weitz is co-leading the program with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Peng-Qiu\u0022\u003EPeng Qiu\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBiology is undergoing a transformation, according to Weitz and Qiu, requiring a new educational paradigm that integrates quantitative approaches like computational modeling and data analytics into the experimental study of living systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur intention is to develop a training environment that instills a quantitative, data-driven mindset, integrating quantitative and data science methods into all aspects of the life science training pipeline,\u201d added Weitz, founding director of Tech\u2019s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences (QBioS).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe roots of InQuBATE go back to the fall of 2016, shortly after QBioS was launched. Weitz saw an opportunity to augment what he was teaching in his cornerstone course, Foundations of Quantitative Biosciences, in which students model living systems from the molecular level up through cells, organisms, populations, and ecosystems. In doing so, students \u201cgot a brief introduction to implementing high-dimensional data analytics, visual analytics, clustering, and modern machine learning methods. But we couldn\u2019t cover allthose topics in detail,\u201d Weitz said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, he reached out to Qiu, who was teaching data analytic methods in his Machine Learning in Biosciences course: \u201cInstead of us developing that class, we started strongly encouraging QBioS students to take Peng\u2019s class,\u201d Weitz said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor me, this was a great opportunity to work with students from the biology side who had real interests in learning data mining and machine learning, as well as students from the engineering side,\u201d said Qiu, principal investigator in the Machine Learning and Bioinformatics Lab in Coulter BME. \u201cWe could see that it was a great learning environment and the QBioS students really excelled in the class. That gave us confidence. Now we\u2019re building this [InQuBATE] training program, and hope it will foster even greater cross pollination.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe training program is designed to do exactly that, bringing together students and faculty from three Georgia Tech colleges: computing, engineering, and sciences. That combination of expertise is reflected in the leadership team. In addition to principal investigators Weitz (College of Sciences) and Qiu (College of Engineering), the faculty leadership team includes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/elizabeth-cherry\u0022\u003EElizabeth Cherry\u003C\/a\u003E (School of Computational Science and Engineering, College of Computing), \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Eva-Dyer\u0022\u003EEva Dyer\u003C\/a\u003E (Coulter BME, College of Engineering and Emory School of Medicine), and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/marvin-whiteley\u0022\u003EMarvin Whiteley\u003C\/a\u003E (School of Biological Sciences, College of Sciences).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe InQuBATE program will ultimately support 15 Ph.D. students over five years. The first cohort \u2014 prioritizing second-year Ph.D. students \u2014 will be selected in August. Next spring, the program will begin soliciting applications from first-year Ph.D. students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe program will extend the breadth of student training without adding time to the Ph.D.,\u201d Weitz said. \u201cFor students on the engineering or computing side, InQuBATE will augment their living systems research experience. For students on the living systems side, the program will augment their training in modeling and data analytics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz, Qiu, and their collaborators also are developing a series of semester-long and short-form (a week or less) courses that will be available to other graduate students, in addition to the InQuBATE cohorts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe intend to make programmatic offerings available to a broader community,\u201d Weitz said. \u201cIn the long term, we hope InQuBATE takes on a central role in shaping the culture of integrative approaches in the study of living systems at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe NIH-funded program is designed to train a new generation of biomedical researchers and thought leaders to harness the data revolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The NIH-funded program is designed to train a new generation of biomedical researchers and thought leaders to harness the data revolution."}],"uid":"27446","created_gmt":"2021-07-08 18:54:06","changed_gmt":"2024-02-15 20:28:06","author":"Joshua Stewart","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648644":{"id":"648644","type":"image","title":"Peng Qiu \u0026 Joshua Weitz","body":null,"created":"1625769462","gmt_created":"2021-07-08 18:37:42","changed":"1625769462","gmt_changed":"2021-07-08 18:37:42","alt":"Peng Qiu, left, and Joshua Weitz are leading a new National Institutes of Heath-funded training program that will help transform the study of quantitative- and data-intensive biosciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. (Photo: Allison Carter)","file":{"fid":"246229","name":"Qui-Peng-Weitz-Joshua-By-Allison-Carter-h.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Qui-Peng-Weitz-Joshua-By-Allison-Carter-h.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Qui-Peng-Weitz-Joshua-By-Allison-Carter-h.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":262417,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Qui-Peng-Weitz-Joshua-By-Allison-Carter-h.jpg?itok=KD6ubjH_"}},"648645":{"id":"648645","type":"image","title":"Marvin Whiteley, Eva Dyer, Elizabeth Cherry","body":null,"created":"1625769915","gmt_created":"2021-07-08 18:45:15","changed":"1625769915","gmt_changed":"2021-07-08 18:45:15","alt":"The core faculty leadership team of the new NIH-funded InQuBATE program includes, from left, Marvin Whiteley, professor in the School of Biological Sciences; Eva Dyer, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Elizabeth Cherry, associate professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering.","file":{"fid":"246230","name":"Whiteley-Dyer-Cherry-composite.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Whiteley-Dyer-Cherry-composite.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Whiteley-Dyer-Cherry-composite.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":309080,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Whiteley-Dyer-Cherry-composite.jpg?itok=9bdb51mE"}}},"media_ids":["648644","648645"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/project-details\/10270517","title":"Integrative and Quantitative Biosciences Accelerated Training Environment"},{"url":"https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz","title":"Joshua Weitz"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Peng-Qiu","title":"Peng Qiu"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/people\/elizabeth-cherry","title":"Elizabeth Cherry"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Eva-Dyer","title":"Eva Dyer"},{"url":"https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/marvin-whiteley","title":"Marvin Whiteley"}],"groups":[{"id":"620089","name":"Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI)"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"169835","name":"Peng Qiu"},{"id":"188231","name":"CMDI"},{"id":"11599","name":"Joshua Weitz"},{"id":"2270","name":"National Institutes of Health"},{"id":"188225","name":"InQuBATE"},{"id":"7043","name":"biosciences"},{"id":"177810","name":"Quantitative Biosciences program"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}